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Media follow Meadows around WNC, say he has little to fear from Trump

Some national reporters apparently decided they would go to the mountains of Western North Carolina on the company's dime over spring break -- figuratively or literally -- instead of spending a week in Florida or the Yucatan.

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Media follow Meadows around WNC, say he has little to fear from Trump

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Mark Meadows smiles as he speaks to the news media in Washington earlier this year.(Photo: Alex Brandon, AP)

Some national reporters apparently decided they would go to the mountains of Western North Carolina on the company's dime over spring break -- figuratively or literally -- instead of spending a week in Florida or the Yucatan.

A handful of media outlets including the Toronto Star, National Public Radio and fivethirtyeight.com have had stories in recent days seeking to answer the question of how much impact President Donald Trump's attacks on Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Buncombe, and other members of the House Freedom Caucus may have.

The consensus is not much.

"Mark Meadows has little incentive to moderate, since most voters in his district are eager to support him," NPR's Geoff Bennett concluded after interviewing some area residents on Main Street in Hendersonville.

"We have a voice, we the people, in the Freedom Caucus. And we will stand behind them,” Bilello said.

Bilello's group organized a March 27 rally to support Meadows in Waynesville that was preceded by a free lunch for participants sponsored by Freedom Works, a national tea party group. Freedom Works and Heritage Action, another national conservative group, also provided signs or materials to make them. About 30 people showed up, by one account.

A similar event, also with lunch provided by Freedom Works, is scheduled for Friday in Lenoir.

Dale writes: "Trump has not yet figured out how to deal with (Freedom Caucus members). The self-styled master negotiator has seemed confused about how to persuade a group that is more interested in making points than making deals."

Fivethirtyeight, as you would expect a data-oriented outlet to do, did its visiting with a spreadsheet. Its figures, first published March 31, say Trump ran only a little ahead of Meadows in the 11th Congressional District that takes in most of WNC in November. Trump beat Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, with 48 percent of the vote to Cruz's 43 percent in the Republican presidential primary.

The analysis concludes Trump probably has little chance of putting much electoral pressure on most Freedom Caucus members. All but five of the 32 caucus members the site identified ran better in their districts last November than Trump did.

USA Today's Eliza Collins, in a story also published by the Citizen-Times, also found strong support for Meadows in the 11th, but some critics as well.

And George Will, a syndicated columnist at The Washington Post, recently praised the caucus, calling it a "revival of congressional resistance to the dangerous waxing of executive power under presidents of both parties." He's skeptical Trump has much leverage over members.

Several media accounts say Meadows and other Freedom Caucus members have been talking to members of the Trump administration and House leadership over the congressional break about other ways to change the Affordable Care Act. Their opposition to the leadership bill to repeal and replace the law was a primary factor behind its demise and the reason for Trump's criticism.

There is a reasonable chance the next ACA replacement plan will be unpopular, also. It is difficult to say until the details are hammered out and released.

An N.C. State University political scientist suggested to the Citizen-Times recently that the biggest threat to Meadows' political future would come from events that change the political landscape across the nation, not the president.

A big decline in the national economy, a foreign policy setback or unpopular decisions on health care or foreign trade might or might not give a Democratic candidate impetus to unseat Meadows. They could more easily result in a change of control of Congress at some point, making Meadows and the Freedom Caucus a minority within a minority.

But the earliest that could happen would be after the 2018 elections. Democrats have reason to be optimistic about their chances in the House elections in general next year, but they are still a long time from now.